Electronic appliance

• US 20050147129A1
• Filed: 01/06/2005
• Published: 07/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Oyama, Kazuya, Ueda, Toru, Maehara, Atsushi
• Granted Patent: US 7,587,249 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/486
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/202 by remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/18 Arrangements characterised by circuits or components specially adapted for receiving
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42226 Reprogrammable remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47217 for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver

Abstract

An electric appliance 1 has a code correspondence data table that accommodates the correspondence among the control signals of the remote control units belonging to recording medium drive apparatuses 2-1 to 2-m and signal reception apparatuses 3-1 to 3-n and a code correspondence data table that accommodates the correspondence between those control signals and the various operations performed by the electric appliance 1 to select contents. With reference to these code correspondence data tables, contents are selected and reproduced according to control signals transmitted from any remote control unit 6.

Claims

1. An electronic appliance comprising:

a signal transmitter/receiver for

receiving signals from a plurality of contents providing apparatuses that each provide contents and

transmitting to the contents providing apparatuses control signals for controlling the contents providing apparatuses;

a control signal receiver for receiving control signals from remote control units belonging respectively to the contents providing apparatuses;

a signal discriminator for judging to which contents providing apparatuses belong the remote control units that have transmitted the control signals received by the signal receiver; and

a selection controller for recognizing, based on a result of judgment by the signal discriminator, what is indicated by the control signals transmitted from the remote control units and received by the control signal receiver in order to select contents to be monitored and a contents providing apparatus from which to receive the contents.

2. The electronic appliance of claim 1, further comprising:

a first data table that accommodates correspondence between

selection control signals for selecting contents to be monitored and a contents providing apparatus from which to receive the contents and

control signals produced by the remote control units belonging to the contents providing apparatuses of a plurality of kinds,

wherein, when the control signal receiver receives a control signal transmitted from a remote controller, the selection controller, by referring to the first data table, recognizes the selection control signal indicated by the received control signal, and then selects contents to be monitored and a contents providing apparatus from which to receive the contents, and

then the selected contents providing apparatus is requested, through the signal transmitter/receiver, to transmit contents data of the contents to be monitored so that the signal transmitter/receiver receives the contents data of the contents to be monitored.

3. The electronic appliance of claim 2, further comprising:

a second data table that accommodates correspondence among control signals produced by the remote control units belonging to the contents providing apparatuses of the plurality of kinds; and

an operation controller for producing, based on control signals transmitted from the remote control unit and received by the control signal receiver, control signals to be transmitted to the contents providing apparatuses,

wherein, when the control signal receiver receives a first control signal transmitted from a remote controller, the operation controller looks up the first control signal in the second data table to recognize a second control signal for a contents providing apparatus with which communication is currently being conducted, and then transmits the second control signal through the signal transmitter/receiver to the contents providing apparatus with which communication is currently being conducted.

4. The electronic appliance of claim 1,

wherein first a first video signal is produced for displaying a list of all selectable contents providing apparatuses to permit, in the list displayed according to the first video signal, selection of a contents providing apparatus, and

then a second video signal is produced for displaying a list of all contents that the selected contents providing apparatus can provide to permit, in the list displayed according to the second video signal, selection of contents to be monitored.

5. The electronic appliance of claim 4, further comprising:

a third data table in which all contents that the contents providing apparatuses can provide are classified on an apparatus-by-apparatus basis,

wherein selection of contents to be monitored is achieved by referring to the third data table.

6. The electronic appliance of claim 1,

wherein first a video signal is produced for displaying a list of all selectable contents to permit, in the list displayed according to the video signal, selection of contents to be monitored, and then a contents providing apparatus that can provide the contents is recognized.

7. The electronic appliance of claim 6, further comprising:

a third data table in which all contents that the contents providing apparatuses can provide are classified on an apparatus-by-apparatus basis,

wherein selection of contents to be monitored is achieved by referring to the third data table.

8. The electronic appliance of claim 1, further comprising

a fourth data table that accommodates correspondence between control signals from the remote control units and kinds of the contents providing apparatuses,

wherein, when a control signal is received from a remote control unit, the signal discriminator, by referring to the fourth data table, recognizes the type of the contents providing apparatus to which belongs the remote control unit that has transmitted the control signal.

9. An electronic appliance comprising:

a signal transmitter/receiver for

receiving signals from a plurality of contents providing apparatuses that each provide contents and

transmitting to the contents providing apparatuses control signals for controlling the contents providing apparatuses;

a control signal receiver for receiving control signals from remote control units belonging respectively to the contents providing apparatuses;

a signal discriminator for judging to which contents providing apparatuses belong the remote control units that have transmitted the control signals received by the signal receiver;

a second data table that accommodates correspondence among control signals produced by the remote control units belonging to the contents providing apparatuses of the plurality of kinds; and

an operation controller for producing, based on control signals transmitted from the remote control unit and received by the control signal receiver, control signals to be transmitted to the contents providing apparatuses,

wherein, when the control signal receiver receives a first control signal transmitted from a remote controller, the operation controller looks up the first control signal in the second data table to recognize a second control signal for a contents providing apparatus with which communication is currently being conducted, and then transmits the second control signal through the signal transmitter/receiver to the contents providing apparatus with which communication is currently being conducted.

10. The electronic appliance of claim 9, further comprising

a fourth data table that accommodates correspondence between control signals from the remote control units and kinds of the contents providing apparatuses,

wherein, when a control signal is received from a remote control unit, the signal discriminator, by referring to the fourth data table, recognizes the type of the contents providing apparatus to which belongs the remote control unit that has transmitted the control signal.

11. An electronic appliance comprising:

a signal transmitter/receiver for

receiving signals from a plurality of contents providing apparatuses that each provide contents and

transmitting to the contents providing apparatuses control signals for controlling the contents providing apparatuses;

wherein first a video signal is produced for displaying a list of all selectable contents to permit, in the list displayed according to the video signal, selection of contents to be monitored, and then a contents providing apparatus that can provide the contents is recognized.

12. The electronic appliance of claim 11, further comprising:

a third data table in which all contents that the contents providing apparatuses can provide are classified on an apparatus-by-apparatus basis,

wherein selection of contents to be monitored is achieved by referring to the third data table.